The present invention relates to a sling for stabilizing weapons and other hand-held equipment during use and for transporting the same. More specifically, the present invention relates to a sling that couples the weapon or equipment to the hips and truncal portions of a bearer""s body to effect the stabilization of the weapon or equipment.
Slings and straps and the like are commonly used for transporting and stabilizing weapons and other hand-held equipment such as rifles, shotguns, handguns, bows, crossbows, binoculars, telescopes, and still and motion picture cameras. As used herein, the term weapon shall be construed broadly to include rifles, shotguns, handguns, bows, crossbows and other weapons as well as hand-held equipment such as binoculars, telescopes, cameras and the like.
One problem common to slings designed to facilitate the transportation of weapons is that there is little thought given to whether or how these slings may be used to stabilize the weapon during firing. One example is U.S. Pat. No. 3,098,591 to Lerude. Lerude""s harness is adapted for carrying a rifle in a slung position but teaches nothing with regard to the stabilization of the weapon during firing. U.S. Pat. No. 4,613,067 to Gann discloses a carrying sling that permits a weapon to be transported in a variety of positions but discloses no manner in which the carrying sling may be used to stabilize the gun during firing.
Other slings attempt to navigate the middle ground between ease of transportation and stabilization of the weapon for firing. Examples of such patents include U.S. Pat. No. 4,331,271 to Anderson and U.S. Pat. No. 6,260,748 to Lindsey. Anderson discloses a sling for shoulder guns in which a shoulder gun is supported in a slung position from a belt to which is attached a strap. Pains are taken to insure that the shoulder gun will maintain its slung position during transport. However, for stabilization, Anderson relies on the well-known technique of wrapping the sling strap about the elbow of the arm with which the bearer of the weapon grasps the forearm of the stock. In this way, the bearer of the weapon is able to achieve a more secure connection between his or her arm and the weapon. However, this method of stabilizing a weapon for firing relies on the stability of the bearer""s arms, an inherently unstable member of the human body. Accordingly, the Anderson sling is not capable of providing much in the way of stabilization for a weapon being fired.
The Lindsey sling is adapted for supporting a weapon across the front of the bearer""s chest. A strap may be included between the muzzle end of the weapon and the shoulder of the bearer and by tensioning this strap between the shoulder and the muzzle end of the weapon the weapon may be stabilized to some degree. Not only is Lindsey""s sling relatively limited insofar as it offers only two carrying positions for the weapon, but it provides no dissipation of the phenomenon of muzzle flip as the anchoring point for the stabilizing strap is positioned above the muzzle end of the weapon when the weapon is fired.
Other prior art designs have all but abandoned the goal of supporting a weapon for transport in favor of providing a maximum amount of stability for the weapon during firing. U.S. Pat. No. 5,738,256 to Goff et al. discloses an adaptable aiming support which essentially comprises a belt that has a rigid support with a fork at its upper end attached thereto. In use, the fork at the end of the rigid support is placed beneath the forearm or muzzle end of the weapon being fired when the weapon is in its firing position. The Goff et al. aiming support does offer better stability to the weapon during firing but is incapable of use as a traditional sling in that it is not able to support a weapon during transport at all.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,988,466 to Brown is a variation upon the adaptable aiming support of Goff et al. in that the tubular support member upon which a weapon is supported is permanently affixed to the weapon and is constructed and arranged to have a greater degree of rotation, thereby allowing the gun to be moved from a firing position to a carrying position in which the muzzle of the gun points upwardly. However, the weapon remains coupled to the tubular support member and may not be transported apart from the support without first uncoupling the weapon from the support. But in doing so, the weapon will have to be re-coupled to the support for use in the intended manner.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,112,448 to Gray et al. discloses a forearm sling that attempts to improve the stability of a weapon during firing by coupling the weapon to the forearm of the bearer. Again, while coupling a weapon to the arm of a bearer can increase the stability of the weapon during firing to some degree, the arm of a bearer is inherently unstable and cannot adequately stabilize a weapon during firing. What is more, the Gray et al. forearm sling has no way of counteracting the incidence of muzzle flip engendered by the firing of the weapon and does not provide a means for transporting the weapon.
Accordingly, there is a recognized need for a sling for use with weapons of various types and with other types of hand-held equipment that can facilitate the transport of the weapon in a variety of slung positions, in the crook of an arm, or in the hands, that does not involve the need to disassemble the sling. There is also a need for a sling that can couple a weapon to the hips and the truncal portion of a bearer""s body to sufficiently stabilize the weapon for firing. Such a sling must be usable in multiple shooting/use positions.
These and other objectives and advantages of the invention will appear more fully from the following description, made in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein like reference characters refer to the same or similar parts throughout the several views.
The objectives of the present invention are realized in a sling for a typical rifle or shotgun that has a barrel mounted in a stock with a butt end arranged to be positioned against the shoulder of a bearer when the rifle is in a firing position and a forearm portion positioned adjacent a muzzle end of the barrel, with the muzzle end of the rifle being supported at the forearm portion of the stock by the bearer when the rifle is in its firing position. The rifle is steadied in its firing position by a sling that comprises a flexible strap that has a first end and a second end. The first end of the strap is rotatively attached to the rifle adjacent its butt end, the second end of the strap being similarly attached to the rifle at the forearm portion of the stock of the rifle adjacent the muzzle end of the barrel of the rifle. Typically, the strap of the sling is attached to the rifle using standard, well-know devices such as a simple D-ring screwed to the stock of the rifle or a hammerhead sling socket. The strap also has an intermediate portion that is coupled to the waist of the bearer of the rifle.
When the rifle is in its firing position with the butt end of the rifle positioned against the bearer""s shoulder, the strap of the sling extends downward to the bearer""s waist and from there to the forearm portion of the stock of the rifle, thereby creating a relatively rigid coupling between the waist or torso of the bearer of the rifle. This coupling between the muzzle end of the rifle and the waist of the bearer prevents recoil forces engendered in the rifle as a result of firing the rifle from causing to the muzzle end of the rifle to rise. This rise, called muzzle flip, can negatively affect the aim of the bearer and result in inaccurate and imprecise shooting.
An important aspect of the sling of the present invention is that the strap of the sling is also capable of supporting the rifle in a carrying position in which the rifle is positioned on the back of the bearer for transport.
The strap of the rifle sling of the present invention may be coupled to the waist or torso of the bearer of the rifle in many ways. It must be pointed out that in at least one embodiment of the present invention the sling strap is simply passed through the belt or a belt loop of the bearer. Because the butt end of the rifle stock is firmly anchored to the shoulder area of the torso, the fixed length of the strap effectively couples the muzzle end of the rifle to the waist of the bearer so as to prevent or at least reduce muzzle flip.
In another embodiment, the strap of the rifle sling is coupled to the waist of the user using a simple carabiner type mechanism that is itself coupled to the belt or belt loop of the bearer. Use of the carabiner allows the sling strap to be easily detached from the waist of the bearer. Alternatively, the bearer may couple the sling strap to his or her waist using a more complex harness that attaches to the waist and/or at least one leg of the bearer.
Where desirable, the sling strap may be constrained with respect to the bearer""s waist and to the carabiner type structure used to couple the sling strap thereto. A simple way of accomplishing this is to secure a stop to the sling strap so as to control the movement of the sling strap through the carabiner or loop that couples the sling strap to the bearer""s waist. The stop creates a relatively rigid connection of predetermined length between the muzzle end of the rifle and the waist of the bearer by limiting the travel of the sling strap through the carabiner or ring coupled to the waist of the bearer. Another, more complex embodiment of the present invention comprises a sling clip that is coupled to the waist of the bearer and which is constructed and arranged to releasably grip the strap of the sling when the rifle is in its firing position. Once the rifle is in its firing position, the sling clip grasps the strap and securely couples the muzzle end of the rifle to the waist of the bearer to prevent or limit muzzle flip.
In general, the sling strap should be substantially non-elastic or have an elasticity that is relatively low. Good examples of suitable materials from which the sling strap may be fashioned include webbing of nylon and other synthetic materials such as Kevlar, polyvinyl chloride, and the like and natural materials such as leather.
The present invention may also be characterized as a rifle sling that comprises a flexible strap having a first end and a second end, with the first end of the strap being secured to the rifle near a muzzle end of the rifle and the second end of the strap being secured near a butt end of the rifle. The strap is also slidably received through a sling clip that is secured to the hips of the bearer of the rifle so that the bearer of the rifle may move the rifle from a slung position to a firing position while the sling strap remains coupled to the hips of the bearer. The sling clip is constructed and arranged such that when the rifle is in its firing position, the strap may be secured to the sling clip to couple the muzzle end of the rifle to the hips of the bearer. This effectively couples the muzzle end of the rifle to the hips of the bearer such that when the rifle is fired, the strap minimizes a rise in the muzzle end of the rifle caused by the recoil of the rifle as it is fired.
An important benefit to the use of the sling of the present invention is that the flexible strap and the sling clip permit the bearer of the rifle to carry the rifle in the port arms position, cradled in the crook of the bearer""s right or left arm, cantilevered over the bearer""s right or left forearm with the stock of the rifle being wedged under the bearer""s respective arm, to be slung over the shoulder of the bearer, to be slung across the bearer""s back, and to be carried in the hand of the bearer with the bearer""s arm extended, respectively. Similarly, the rifle may be fired from a group of firing positions consisting of a prone position, a sitting position, a squatting position, an offhand position, a standing position, a kneeling position, and a rest position in which the rifle is supported, at least in part, by an object that is not the bearer of the rifle. The rifle may be freely moved between the transport or carrying positions and the firing position with ease and without requiring the sling strap to be uncoupled from the hips of the bearer.
The present invention may further be characterized as a rifle sling for minimizing muzzle flip when a rifle is fired. Such a rifle sling comprises a strap having a first end and a second end and a sling clip that is secured to the hips of the bearer of the rifle. The first end of the strap is connected to the rifle at a muzzle end thereof and the second end of the strap is connected to the rifle at the butt end thereof. An intermediate portion of the strap between the first and second ends of the strap is passed through the sling clip. The sling clip further comprises a clamping mechanism that selectively clamps the strap therein to control the movement of the strap therethrough. The clamping mechanism of the sling clip is activated to define a predetermined length of strap between the muzzle end of the rifle and the sling clip when the rifle is in its firing position. In doing so, the sling clip will have effectively coupled the muzzle end of the rifle to the bearer""s hips, thereby preventing or reducing upward movement of the muzzle end of the rifle caused by recoil of the rifle when the rifle is fired by transmitting the forces that cause the upward movement of the rifle muzzle through the strap to the hips of the bearer of the rifle.
The clamping mechanism for selectively clamping the strap to control the movement of the strap through the sling clip may comprise a locking mechanism that is coupled to a sliding block that is in turn slidably received on the legs of a U-shaped ring. The sliding block is moveable upon the legs of the U-shaped ring by the locking mechanism between an open position in which the strap of the sling moves freely and a closed position in which the sliding block clamps the strap of the sling between the U-shaped ring and the sliding block. Typically the locking mechanism will itself comprise an over-center lever mechanism.